au_muses Nov topic: Scream
He falls asleep easy enough. It's been a long day full of homework, practicing for the tournament, and keeping his temper in check from the people trying to provoke him into fighting back. Harry has managed not to shove the buttons down anyone's throat so he feels like he has lived up to his title of Head Boy. He draws the curtains around his bed and passes out within minutes of his head hitting the pillow. If he'd known what waited for him when he closed his eyes he would have found something to do to keep him away.
There's a half-destroyed house in the corner of a village that Harry feels like he should know. This house, this place, it should mean something to him. He can feel that in the pit of his stomach as he slowly approaches it. It's deserted. At first glance it seems like a miracle that it's still standing.
Closer, slowly closer, he approaches as his heart pounds in his chest. Something deep within him seems to stir like a serpent in the grass slowly raising up to peer at it's prey. But he's a lion, not a snake, yet here he is slithering closer to the gate. He pushes it out of his way and move toward the house. The hairs on the back of his neck are standing at attention. His skin feels like it's on fire as he reaches for the door handle and pushes it open.
"Welcome home, Harry Potter," a high pitched voice greets him. Harry is so cold. He can't remember being this cold before. Not even when he was little and Sirius would wake him so early in the morning to go for bike rides in the country. There is no amount of blankets or hot chocolate that will remove this chill from his bones.
Looking down at the spot between the door and the stairs he gets the flash of memory. Someone is screaming. "Lily, take Harry and run. I'll hold him off."
Dad? He looks around desperately for his father, but all he can hear is the voices in his head. His scar suddenly burns with so much intensity that he hits his knees. His hand rubs the scar as something flashing behind his eyes. The picture. The memory. Surely not his memory, he was just a baby, but it's someone's memory.
His father is trying to hold off the creature at the door. Surely that can't be a man behind the cloak. His eyes are red. His face looks like a snake. Too pale to be a living being. It's something twisted and contorted. A nightmare. A monster under the bed.
Sirius can I sleep with you tonight? I had a bad dream. He was ten the last time he had a nightmare. It was of some troll trying to eat him. Stupid dream, but real enough that it sent him running for his godfather's room. Sirius would protect him. He always did.
His father doesn't get to scream. The green light is blinding and when he falls his glasses are twisted on his face. So young. Merlin, was his dad really that young when he died? He barely looked older than Harry was now.
The cloaked figure, the creature in his nightmare, moved up the stairs with a grace that sent a shiver up Harry's spine. He forced himself to leave his father's side and follow him up.
"No, not Harry. Please. Kill me instead."
Oh no. Mum. No. No. Please no.
The verbal exchange barely registers. All he can see is the fear on her face. The way she shields him to her as the spell is said. As that green light wraps around her and sucks the life right out of her. The soft thud of him landing in the crib as his mother falls to the floor next to it.
The child looking up at the creature with tear filled green eyes. The spell was said. The pain. Oh Merlin, he never remembered the pain before. It had ripped through him as the scar was etched into his skull. And the creature...it had screamed. It had screamed so loud before slithering away.
He'd never heard the voices before. Never saw their faces. How could he remember it all so clearly now? Why was he seeing it through the creatures eyes?
The scene changes and suddenly he was in a graveyard. He heard the screams. Cedric? Running as fast as he could, he pushed through the headstones and people with masks on their faces. Cedric looked at him just before the green light whipped through him and forced him several feet away, slamming his lifeless body to the ground.
NO. "CEDRIC. CEDRIC, NO."
He knew it was too late. He reached for his wand, but came up empty. Where was his wand?
Another scream. Remus? No.
Running through the cemetery he stopped short as he saw the spell bring Remus to his knees. Luna was already on the ground. NO. NO. PLEASE. NO.
Harry could barely stop himself from screaming as he tried to reach them. But something was holding him back. Then he heard that same high pitched voice address him.
"Harry Potter, you will lose everything."
"What do you want from me?" Harry demanded, looking around as the tears streamed down his face. His parents, Cedric, Luna, and Remus, all gone. No...oh Merlin where was Sirius? "SIRIUS? SIRIUS!"
The scream he heard cut through him the same as the green light had when he was a baby. There was laughing as the man cried out in pain again.
"Crucio! That's it, lad, scream for me." A voice said from behind a mask. He held a wand and a knife and was working Harry's godfather over with it.
"You will lose everything, Harry Potter."
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" Harry screamed as he tried to reach Sirius before the green light took the light out of his eyes too. Grey eyes were wide open as he fell back. No, please, no.
Rushing to his side, he dropped to his knees beside him. "Please, wake up. Please, Siri, wake up." He shook him, desperately trying to make him wake up, but lifeless grey eyes stared back at him. "Sirius? Dad?" He swallowed the sobs as he cried out, "Daddy, please wake up. Please, no, not you too."
Infuriated he stood up only to be pinned to the wall by that creature in the cloak. Struggling against him all he could see was red eyes staring back at him. "You will lose everything, Harry Potter. Starting with yourself." The mirror was held up in front of him and he saw his own reflection but instead of green eyes there was red eyes looking back at him.
He screamed. He screamed as hard as he could. He continued to scream as the curtains were pulled back and his dormmates tried to wake him. Sobbing and gasping for breath, tears running down his face, he kept screaming even when he heard them.
"Harry, mate it's all right. It's just a dream," Neville said, as Dean tried to give him a glass of water. Harry continued to scream.
"Get Professor Black or something. I think he needs the infirmary," Seamus said just before Neville ran for the door to get help. Harry couldn't tell them not to disturb his dad. He couldn't speak at all.
He just screamed.